Gramophone

Some of the best sacred music was written not to last. The Manchester-based lawyer and composer John Turner
has been sending musical Christmas cards to friends for vears, little ditties often written without anything as lofty as public performance (or even commercial recording) in mind. The result? Neat, undemonstrative and individual little carols (22 in all, with an instrumental canzonetta included too) that absolutely surpass their ‘closed circle’ origins. Highlights among Turner’s Christmas Card Carols are the beautiful Invocation to Sleep and the shapely, evocative melody of Rocking Hymn. Throughout, the vocal quintet Intimate Voices under Christopher Stokes, clearly recording on the hoof, sing with detail and reactivity.

—Andrew Mellor